UPDATE: The Treasury Department said late Thursday that the Obama administration plans to terminate the Cash for Clunkers program on Monday at 8 p.m. ET, according to the Associated Press. “It's been a thrill to be part of the best economic news story in America,” Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement. “Now we are working toward an orderly wind down of this very popular program.”

ABC News? Rick Klein reports:

The popular government ?Cash for Clunkers? program will be shut down before Labor Day, but every dealer who?s sold a vehicle under the program will be reimbursed as promised by the federal government, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said today.

On ABCNews.com?s ?Top Line,? LaHood said the department needs to wind down the program — which provides vouchers of up to $4,500 to those who trade in older cars for more fuel-efficient models — to be able to guarantee that all dealers will be repaid for the discounts they gave buyers.

?This is the most popular stimulus program going in America today. It?s put show rooms — it?s made show rooms look like Grand Central Station,? LaHood said. ?We have enough people on board now, processing paper to get the backlog cleared out. Every dealer who has a deal in the pipeline will be paid. We have the money to pay them and they will be paid and we?re committed to doing that.?

A formal announcement on how and when the program will end will come from the department later today.

?Look — we don?t want to run out of money. And I want to be able to substantiate what I?m saying here. If you do a deal with us, you submit the paperwork, you will be paid,? LaHood said.

?I?m telling you all and everybody that I can talk to: They will be paid. They?re going to get their money,? he added.

The program was authorized to last through October, and LaHood himself had said an infusion of $2 billion in additional funds should have been enough to keep the program on track through Labor Day.

But the entire $3 billion allocated by Congress for the program is now in danger of running out, with well more than 450,000 claims already having been submitted to the government. The Obama administration has indicated that it will not seek a third round of funding.

Car dealers have expressed frustration with the slow pace in processing reimbursements, and some have even said they aren?t participating in the program any longer because of fear that they won?t get the money they?ve been promised by the federal government.

LaHood said those concerns are unfounded — and pushed back at suggestions that his department wasn?t prepared for the deluge of claims.

?Nothing went wrong. This is a wildly successful program! In four days, when we had a billion dollars, we sold 250,000 cars. Now who?s to say that?s not successful?? he said. ?That?s loans that have gone out to credit unions and banks and salesmen that are making commissions, and it?s the car manufacturers particularly — GM that?s saying they?re going to call back people to make more cars. This is a win-win for people all over America. And for the economy.

LaHood also talked about a summit he?s organizing to find ways to ban texting while driving.

?What I support is the elimination of texting while driving. If it were up to me and I could wave a magic wand — and I can?t — that?s what I do, that?s why we?re having the summit. So we can explore all of these ideas, some that have been introduced as legislation, others that have been talked about, but we should not allow people to text while they drive or allow them to be on a cell phone while they — this is a distraction that has caused accidents, caused fatalities. We?re in the safety business and we?re going to really be about very strong safety measures.?

(LaHood also guaranteed that he won?t update his Fast Lane blog from behind the wheel.)

The secretary also said a Transportation Department inquiry into an incident where passengers on an ExpressJet plane were held on a runway overnight will wrap up tomorrow.

?This is an untenable situation. All of us that fly don?t want to get stuck overnight and into the morning on an airplane. Some measures were taken but look, we?ll have a lot more to say about this in the next day or so,? he said.

You can watch the full interview with LaHood HERE.

Also today, we chatted with Sam Youngman, a White House correspondent for The Hill, about President Obama?s attempt at energizing his campaign army,Sen. Ted Kennedy?s extraordinary letter to state leaders about his Senate seat, and the possibilities of political reconciliation for Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev. (Youngman, a die-hard University of Kentucky fan, even slipped in a dig at Louisville coach Rick Pitino.)

To check out our discussion with Youngman, click HERE.

UPDATE: The Transportation Department announced this afternoon that the program will be cut off Monday evening, August 24, as of 8 pm ET.

?This program has been a lifeline to the automobile industry, jump starting a major sector of the economy and putting people back to work,? LaHood said in a statement.

UPDATE: A senior administration official told reporters this afternoon the Cash for Clunkers program was ?an overwhelming, overnight success? that has driven ?positive outcomes across the industry.? But there are currently no plans for an extension or another installment.

?Right now we are focused on winding down the program in an orderly way, providing a soft landing and getting the applications processed and the dealers paid. There?s no plan to seek additional funding to have an additional extension of the program,? the senior official said in a conference call after the Transportation Department announcement.

The administration?s goal now is ?to provide a soft landing for consumers and for dealers and ensure the program ends in a successful way.?

This official said there were no worries that the program would be overwhelmed by a surge in demand between now and Monday night, as consumer race to get in on the program before it closes, and they are
confident that their economic projections will allow the program to operate through 8pm on Monday in an orderly way.

LaHood: Stimulus Jobs Will be Sustainable — if Congress Acts

ABC News’ Rick Klein reports: With the Obama administration selling the on-the-ground-impact of the stimulus bill, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told us today that infrastructure projects are on their way to creating “thousands” of new jobs — jobs that he said will be sustainable if Congress follows up with a comprehensive transportation bill.

“They’ll be sustainable because Congress, right on the heels of this, is gonna pass an authorization bill to authorize another highway bill for another five years, which will include additional projects,” LaHood said on ABCNews’com’s “Top Line.”

“Not the ones we’re funding . . . but additional projects — more roads, more bridges, more light rail, high-speed rail, thinking a little bit differently about how we do transportation,” he added. “So, are they sustainable? They’ll be sustainable if Congress passes the authorization on the heels of the stimulus 18 months down the road here.”

On Thursday, President Obama is set to unveil a major high-speed rail initiative — paid for, at least initially, by money that’s already been approved by Congress as part of the stimulus.

LaHood also suggested he would be taking a relatively hands-off approach on the always-controversial issue of earmarks.

“I think the leadership of Congress has gotten the message on earmarks,” said LaHood, who requested and received earmarks frequently when he represented an Illinois House district. “They’re really — the American taxpayer doesn’t like them, the President has sent a pretty loud message that he doesn’t like them, and it’ll be up to the Congress to decide whether they really want to go against the will of the people here.”

He added: “Well, look, it’s not going to be up to me. I’m not going to write the bill. I didn’t get elected to anything. But these members of Congress will have to make a decision whether they want to continue with the level of criticism that’s been leveled against earmarks, or whether they really want to do it in a way that reflects what the needs are around the country.”

Though LaHood joined President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden yesterday in celebrating the 2,000th transportation project to get approved, work has begun on only a small fraction of those projects.

But that’s about to change, LaHood said.

“As soon as the weather breaks in most of the country, you’re going to see an enormous number of people working on roads and bridges, and I think it’s probably another month,” he said. “You know, I was in Illinois over the weekend and it was snowing, so it’s pretty hard to get a shovel in the ground when you have that kind of weather. But within the next 30 days, a lot of these projects are going to begin and you’re going to see working — in good paying jobs, by the way.”

In addition, as something of an Obama emissary to Republicans — LaHood is the only former GOP elected official in the Cabinet — he all but guaranteed Republican support for some major Obama initiatives later this year.

“I think Republicans want to be helpful on energy, on education, and on healthcare,” he said. “And I think — I’ve heard the President say this — we’re gonna continue to reach out to Republicans, we want them to be a part of helping us solve these very, very complex problems, and you know, it’s not a political slogan with the President. I’m proof of it, I’m a Republican, I’m included in the Cabinet, and so it’s not a political slogan, and I think you’ll see the President and some of the rest of us reach out to Republicans.”

Click HERE to see our interview with Secretary LaHood.

We also chatted with Republican strategist Kevin Madden about the politics of stimulus spending, the Minnesota Senate race, and tomorrow’s nationwide “tea party” protests.

Click HERE to see the interview with Madden.

LaHood on ‘Top Line’ Tuesday

ABC News’ Rick Klein reports: With transportation policy at the forefront this week, Treasury Secretary Ray LaHood will be our guest on ABCNews.com’s “Top Line” Tuesday, at noon ET.

LaHood joined President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden today in celebrating the approval of the 2,000th transportation project approved for funding under the stimulus package.

It’s part of a White House campaign — part victory lap, part pep talk, part sales job — talking up the impact of the stimulus bill that the administration pressed so hard to get passed.

Administration officials are casting the effort as part of the broader message of an economy on the move. LaHood this week will be visiting a series of places where shovels are hitting the ground — including Philadelphia, Providence, the New Hampshire seacoast, and Vermont.

It’s a big transportation week on other fronts, too: The White House is set to unveil a new high-speech rail initiative on Thursday.

But at the same time, progress on the stimulus is hard to measure.

Per ABC’s Lisa Chinn: “While it is true that there are 2,000 transportation projects that have been approved by the Department of Transportation, there are not 2,000 projects underway, as the president’s remarks might lead you to believe.

“That of course, begs the question: how many Recovery Act transportation projects actually have begun? The administration isn’t saying.

“And furthermore, states aren’t required by law to post what they’ve actually started until October, so we won’t really know until then.”

We’ll ask LaHood about all that and more Tuesday.

LaHood is also playing another role for the Obama White House: envoy to the GOP. LaHood, a former Republican House member from Illinois, is serving as an unofficial go-between for the administration in its courtship of Capitol Hill Republicans.

“He’s our ambassador beyond his portfolio,” White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel told Tribune Co.’s Mike Dorning.

Watch the interview live at noon ET at ABCNews.com.